A king and vassals' tale: Molecular signatures of clonal integration in <i>Posidonia oceanica</i> under chronic light shortage

Ruocco, Miriam; Entrambasaguas, Laura; Dattolo, Emanuela; Milito, Alfonsina; Marín-Guirao, Lázaro; Procaccini, Gabriele

doi:10.1111/1365-2745.13479

Cited by 45 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 94 publications

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“…There was a trend of a further increase in apical shoots with fertilization at the SB sites, while the opposite trend was observed in seagrasses from NB ( Table 4 ). It has been shown that plants exposed to stressors have a higher number of apical shoots in their shoot population to secure the persistence of their population ( Ruocco et al, 2020 ). In this way, seagrasses are able to spread and find more favorable habitats ( Meinesz and Lefevre, 1984 ; Ruocco et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nutrient History Affects the Response and Resilience of the Tropical Seagrass Halophila stipulacea to Further Enrichment in Its Native Habitat

et al. 2021

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Eutrophication is one of the main threats to seagrass meadows, but there is limited knowledge on the interactive effects of nutrients under a changing climate, particularly for tropical seagrass species. This study aimed to detect the onset of stress in the tropical seagrass, Halophila stipulacea, by investigating the effect of in situ nutrient addition during an unusually warm summer over a 6-month period. We measured a suite of different morphological and biochemical community metrics and individual plant traits from two different sites with contrasting levels of eutrophication history before and after in situ fertilization in the Gulf of Aqaba. Nutrient stress combined with summer temperatures that surpassed the threshold for optimal growth negatively affected seagrass plants from South Beach (SB), an oligotrophic marine protected area, while H. stipulacea populations from North Beach (NB), a eutrophic and anthropogenically impacted area, benefited from the additional nutrient input. Lower aboveground (AG) and belowground (BG) biomass, reduced Leaf Area Index (LAI), smaller internodal distances, high sexual reproductive effort and the increasing occurrence of apical shoots in seagrasses from SB sites indicated that the plants were under stress and not growing under optimal conditions. Moreover, AG and BG biomass and internodal distances decreased further with the addition of fertilizer in SB sites. Results presented here highlight the fact that H. stipulacea is one of the most tolerant and plastic seagrass species. Our study further demonstrates that the effects of fertilization differ significantly between meadows that are growing exposed to different levels of anthropogenic pressures. Thus, the meadow’s “history” affects it resilience and response to further stress. Our results suggest that monitoring efforts on H. stipulacea populations in its native range should focus especially on carbohydrate reserves in leaves and rhizomes, LAI, internodal length and percentage of apical shoots as suitable warning indicators for nutrient stress in this seagrass species to minimize future impacts on these valuable ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been shown that plants exposed to stressors have a higher number of apical shoots in their shoot population to secure the persistence of their population ( Ruocco et al, 2020 ). In this way, seagrasses are able to spread and find more favorable habitats ( Meinesz and Lefevre, 1984 ; Ruocco et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrient History Affects the Response and Resilience of the Tropical Seagrass Halophila stipulacea to Further Enrichment in Its Native Habitat

et al. 2021

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“…Plants try to spread horizontally to recover and find more favorable conditions ( Meinesz and Lefevre, 1984 ). Indeed, stressed meadows will prioritize apical shoots survival in order to secure population persistence and spread to more favorable habitats ( Ruocco et al, 2020 ). In order to respond to temperature stress, plants can perform escape strategies other than favoring the growth of apical shoots, and can invest resources in flowering, seeking for spreading through sexual reproduction ( Ruiz et al, 2018 ; Marín-Guirao et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unusually Warm Summer Temperatures Exacerbate Population and Plant Level Response of Posidonia oceanica to Anthropogenic Nutrient Stress

et al. 2021

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Posidonia oceanica is a key foundation species in the Mediterranean providing valuable ecosystem services. However, this species is particularly vulnerable towards high coastal nutrient inputs and the rising frequency of intense summer heat waves, but their combined effect in situ has received little attention so far. Here, we investigated the effects of in situ nutrient addition during an unusually warm summer over a 4-month period, comparing different morphological, physiological and biochemical population metrics of seagrass meadows growing in protected areas (Ischia) with meadows already exposed to significant anthropogenic pressure (Baia – Gulf of Pozzuoli). Our study highlights that the effects of warmer than usual summer temperatures on the population level of seagrass meadows can be exacerbated if the plants are already exposed to higher anthropogenic pressures. Morphological and population level indicators mainly changed over time, possibly impacted by season and the warmer temperatures, and displayed more pronounced reductions in seagrasses from impacted sites. The additional nutrient supply had even more deleterious effects, as shown by a decrease in approximately 67% in cover in fertilized plots at high impacted sites and 33% at low impacted sites. Moreover, while rhizome starch concentration showed a seasonal increase in plants from low impacted sites it displayed a trend of a 27% decrease in fertilized plots of the high impacted sites. Epiphyte biomass was approximately four-fold higher on leaves of plants growing in impacted sites and even doubled with the additional nutrient input. Predicting and anticipating stress in P. oceanica is of crucial importance for conservation and management efforts, given the limited colonizing and reproductive ability and extremely slow growth of this ecosystem engineer. Our results suggest that monitoring efforts should focus especially on leaf area index (LAI), carbohydrate concentrations in the rhizomes, and epiphyte cover on leaves as indicators of the onset of stress in Posidonia oceanica, which can be used by decision makers to take appropriate measures before damage to the ecosystem becomes irreversible, minimize future human interference and strengthen the resilience of these important ecosystems.

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“…In accordance with our results, cytosine methylation increased more in heat-sensitive genotypes of Brassica napus under increased temperatures than in heat-tolerant genotypes, likely to respond and adapt to heat-stress 80 . In seagrasses, global DNA hyper-methylation and methylation changes in target functional genes of P. oceanica have been shown under increased cadmium levels and reduced light conditions 56,57,60 , and have been proposed to be at the basis of the species acclimation to heat stress 54,58 . P. oceanica cold-plants not only changed DNA methylation levels during the warming exposure, but they also showed the modulation of genes involved in epigenetic processes commonly used by plants for the transcriptional stimulation of stress tolerance and flowering as a possible mechanism to survive and optimize reproductive success under stress conditions 85 .…”

Section: Cold-plants W Arm-plants Cold-plants W Arm-plantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gene body DNA methylation in seagrasses: inter- and intraspecific differences and interaction with transcriptome plasticity under heat stress

Entrambasaguas

Ruocco

Verhoeven

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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The role of DNA methylation and its interaction with gene expression and transcriptome plasticity is poorly understood, and current insight comes mainly from studies in very few model plant species. Here, we study gene body DNA methylation (gbM) and gene expression patterns in ecotypes from contrasting thermal environments of two marine plants with contrasting life history strategies in order to explore the potential role epigenetic mechanisms could play in gene plasticity and responsiveness to heat stress. In silico transcriptome analysis of CpGO/E ratios suggested that the bulk of Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa genes possess high levels of intragenic methylation. We also observed a correlation between gbM and gene expression flexibility: genes with low DNA methylation tend to show flexible gene expression and plasticity under changing conditions. Furthermore, the empirical determination of global DNA methylation (5-mC) showed patterns of intra and inter-specific divergence that suggests a link between methylation level and the plants’ latitude of origin and life history. Although we cannot discern whether gbM regulates gene expression or vice versa, or if other molecular mechanisms play a role in facilitating transcriptome responsiveness, our findings point to the existence of a relationship between gene responsiveness and gbM patterns in marine plants.

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A king and vassals' tale: Molecular signatures of clonal integration in Posidonia oceanica under chronic light shortage

Cited by 45 publications

References 94 publications

Nutrient History Affects the Response and Resilience of the Tropical Seagrass Halophila stipulacea to Further Enrichment in Its Native Habitat

Nutrient History Affects the Response and Resilience of the Tropical Seagrass Halophila stipulacea to Further Enrichment in Its Native Habitat

Unusually Warm Summer Temperatures Exacerbate Population and Plant Level Response of Posidonia oceanica to Anthropogenic Nutrient Stress

Gene body DNA methylation in seagrasses: inter- and intraspecific differences and interaction with transcriptome plasticity under heat stress

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